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How to create a seating chart

Learn how to build a seating chart for your next event. You can include reserved seats, table layouts and even reserved booths.

Kalyn avatar
Written by Kalyn
Updated this week

This help article will show you how to build a simple seating chart without sections, which is suitable for most venues.

💡 If you have a venue with over 1,000 seats, we suggest you read our article: How to create a seating chart with sections.


Setting up your seating chart

  • To get started creating a seating chart for your reserved seating event, go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Manage’ > ‘Seating charts’.

    A screenshot of the seating charts page in Ticket Tailor
  • Seated reservations are charged differently to regular ticket sales. 1 seated reservation = 1 usage for the ticket sale and 1 for the seat reservation, so you'll be charged 2 usage. Click 'Activate seating charts' to acknowledge this.

  • Then, click on 'Create new seating chart'.

    • You can also reach this point by clicking 'Use seating chart' from the 'Create ticket types' area when creating an event.

  • The seating chart editor will then appear in a pop-up. You'll need to first decide between a simple or more complex chart with sections and floors or zones. Unless you have a large venue, 'Simple' should be a good fit for most needs.

    A screenshot of the seating chart editor with options for a simple chart, a chart with sections and floors or a chart with zones.
  • You’ll then have the option to trace over a chart if you have a diagram of your venue floor plan available. This is typically a digital image which you can upload and build your seating map on top of. If you don’t have one, click 'Skip'.

  • Now you’re in the seating chart editor, which will just be a blank drawing board for you to start from if you haven't uploaded an image.

    A screenshot of the blank seating chart editor ready for you to draw your seats

Understanding key seating chart editing tools

Before we start to draw the chart, let’s introduce some key functionalities of the tool that you’ll be using to set up your seating layout.

Row tool

Your starting point for drawing your chart, this is how you add new rows / seats to your design. You can opt to draw a single row at a time, multiple rows at a time, or intertwined rows.

A screenshot of the seating chart designer menu. The 'Row tool' icon is highlighted with an orange square.

Select tool

Use this to select seats for labeling. More on this below.

A screenshot of the seating chart designer menu. The 'Select tool' icon is highlighted with an orange square.

Select seats tool

Use this to select a certain selection of seats, e.g. to delete them or mark them as ‘Restricted view’, ‘Accessible’ or ‘Disabled by social distancing rules’.

A screenshot of the seating chart designer menu. The 'Select seats tool' icon is highlighted with an orange square.

Creating a basic seating chart

Let's use the example of a small venue with 100 reserved seats available, in a standard row set up with an aisle in the middle.

  • Click on the Row tool, and choose ‘Multiple rows’

    A screenshot of the 'Multiple row tool' button in the seating chart editor.
  • Click your mouse where you want to start drawing and then release it to add new rows, click again to stop creating new rows.

    A gif showing someone building a seating chart by clicking, dragging and releasing to add seats.
  • To allow for an aisle, you can create two separate blocks.

    A screenshot of a seating chart in the builder, with two blocks of 5x10 seats, and an aisle in between.
  • Next, we need to label and categorise the seats. To do this, use the 'Select tool', and drag across the seats you want to label.

    A gif of someone highlighting the left block of seats. Once highlighted, a new menu appears to the right with options for categorising and labelling your seats.
  • This will open up the Row, Label and Category settings on the right hand side.

    A screenshot of the left hand seats selected and the new menu on the right.
  • The first thing we'll update is the ‘Row labeling’ – this is where you decide the name for each row, e.g. A,B,C or 1,2,3.

  • Use the ‘Position’ setting to determine which side you’d like the Row letter to display (you might find the seats all turn red at this stage, but don’t worry, we address that in the next step).

    • There are other settings available in this section, but we’ll stick with keeping it simple as A,B,C for this example.

    • We’ll also leave the ‘Row’ settings at the top as they are, and leave out 'Section labeling' for this example.

  • Under ‘Seat labeling’, you can choose your 'Sequence', e.g. 1,2,3. Once you select that, you’ll see the seats all turn white and become numbered:

    A screenshot of the seats. The left are labelled (A1 - J5) and are white. The right block of seats are red, and don't have labels.
  • Finally (and crucially), we have to set the 'Category'.

Understanding Categories for your seats

  • Categories are used to link the seats on your seating charts to the ticket types you'll be selling for your event. Think of a category as a collection of seats that have the same attributes and/or price.

  • Each seat can only have one category, but you can assign multiple ticket types (prices) to each seat. For example, you could sell a seat with an 'Orchestra' category, but have the option of an adult or child ticket type linked to that seat.

  • The names you chose for your categories will show on the seating chart when customers place their orders, so make sure they accurately describe what is for sale. For example, in a larger venue, you might have a ‘Stalls’ category and an ‘Upper circle’ category. Or, you might want to use it to designate accessible seats.

How to create Categories

  • Click on ‘Create a new category’ and give it a name – this could be the same or similar to what your ticket types will be called. For example, if all seats will be sold at the same price, you might simply call it 'Reserved seating'. Or, if you want the front four rows to be priced higher, you can categorise them as ‘Front rows’. Once you've entered the name, click the checkmark to save it.

    A screenshot of a reserved seating category as described above.
  • To apply a category to a seat in your chart, click on the seat and, using the right hand menu, choose the correct label from the 'Category' section. You’ll know it’s been applied because the seats will change colour to match the category.

    A screenshot showing the chart where the left hand block of seats has been categorised, but the right hand seats are red and not yet labelled or categorised.
  • Next, repeat the process for any remaining unlabelled seats.

  • Once that's done, come out of the selector mode by clicking anywhere on the white space. You'll then see on the right hand side if there are any errors or seats that are missing labels. If everything is green, you’re all set!

    A screenshot of the finished seating chart described in these instructions!
  • Give your chart a title on the top left. You can then exit out of the tool by clicking the red ‘X’ on the top right – don’t worry, everything will have automatically saved.

  • You should then see your seating chart in the ‘Manage seating charts’ list.


How to link your seating chart to your event and add tickets and prices

  • Go to ‘Events’ > ‘Add a new event’. Add the main details of your event, and then under ‘Create ticket types’, click on ‘Use seating chart’ on the right hand side.

    A screenshot of the 'Create ticket types' section, with an orange arrow pointing to the 'Use seating chart' button.
  • Select the seating chart you've just created, and click ‘Save settings’.

  • Click on the new ‘Add seated ticket type’ button that will now appear in the ‘Create ticket types’ section.

    A screenshot of the 'Add seated ticket type' button
  • Enter your ‘Ticket name’, ‘Price’ and ‘Quantity’ – note that the quantity must be at least the number of seats available under the categories selected in your chart. Then select the category of seat you want to issue this ticket type for, and click ‘Save ticket’.

    A screenshot of the 'create seated ticket type' form described in this bullet.
  • Repeat to add as many ticket types as you wish to sell.

  • Save your event, and then either preview it to check you're happy, or publish it. Here’s what it'll look like from the customer's perspective:

    A screenshot of the finished seating chart created in this article!

💡 Things to note

Need help with your seating chart? Contact customer support via hi@tickettailor.com to check out your options.

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